Furniture leg support



June 30, 1964 v. P. RUPAR FURNITURE LEG SUPPORT Filed May 15, 1962INVENTOR Victor Rupar Tim ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,138,893FTURE LEG SUPPORT Victor P. Rupar, RR. 1, Holton, Mich. Filed May 15,1962, Ser. No. 194,766 2 Claims. (Cl. 45--137) This invention relates toa floor protecting furniture or appliance leg support and has for anobject to provide an improved furniture or appliance leg support made toprotect floors and floor coverings from scufling from furniture andhousehold appliances.

A further object of this invention is to provide a furniture leg supporthaving an inherent beauty arising from the nature of its construction.The conventional leg support is usually dull and drab in appearance andwhile it protects the floor and supports the furniture leg thereon, itactually detracts from the appearance of the furniture and the furnitureleg supported thereon. The appearance of the furniture and furniture legis enhanced by the presence of the furniture leg support of thisinvention.

It is an object of this invention to provide a furniture leg supportmade of a plurality of laminae with the edge of each lamina of aninherent color which is different from the color of the adjacent lamina.

A further object of this invention is to provide a furniture leg supportmade of laminated plastic material or of hardwood plywood, particularlybirch plywood, where each ply is made of birch having a grain providinga color different from the appearance of the grain or color of eachadjacent ply, with the support having a disc of cushioning materialsecured to the bottom surface of the lower-most ply.

A further object of this invention is to provide a furniture leg andappliance leg support which will greatly absorb and eliminate vibrationsproduced in the furniture and the applicant during normal usage thereof,partic ularly furniture such as the radio and phonograph type, andappliances such as washers and dryers, etc.

A further object of this invention is to provide a leg support or casterwhich is provided with a layer of vibration absorbing material on theupper surface where the furniture or appliance leg rests thereon, and asimilar layer on the bottom surface where the support rests on thefloor, the thickness of the bottom material being approximately twicethat of the top material.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will hereinafter becomeapparent, this invention comprises the constructions, combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter disclosed and claimed, and illustratedin the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of furniture leg support ofthis invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of another form of leg support.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a third form of leg support of thisinvention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of still another form.

FIG. 7 is a top plan fragmentary view of still another form.

There is shown at 10, 12, 14, 16 and 17, different forms of leg supportsof this invention, the inventive features of this invention beingincluded in each different form herein illustrated.

In each form of the invention, the body is made of a plurality of pliesor laminae, as shown at 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26. The material of theselaminae may either be high impact plastic material of suitable strengthand of a different inherent color, that is, of diiferent color than theadjacent lamina, or may be of hardwood plywood, particularly such asbirchwood, with a visible edge grain so as to form a pleasing designresulting from the inherent color or grain of the material. Any desiredcombination of colors may be provided.

In the case of hardwood, the color may result merely from the inherentgrain present, each ply being made of a ply of birch or other hardwoodand assembled with their grains running in different direction. In thecase of a high impact plastic material, the colors of each lamina areinherently present and the laminae are assembled either with alternatesimilar colors or with any other selection of color wherein each laminais of a color inherently different than the color of each adjacentlamina, and of course the individual lamina may be multi-colored asdesired. When made of hardwood, such as birch, plywood, or otherplywood, the body may be suitably finished with a transparent protectingmaterial and waxed to enhance the natural beauty of the birch or otherhardwood plies present.

As will be noted, the leg support may be made of substantially anyregular contour, such as cylindrical in contour as illustrated at 10 inFIG. 1, hexagonal in contour as at 12 or 17 or square as shown at 14 and16. In addition, the sides may be vertical, as shown in the forms at 10,12 and 16, or may be angular, as shown at 14 and 17.

In each form, one or more of the upper plies or laminae are centrallyapertured, as at 28, through which a furniture leg 30 extends intosupporting position on the top surface of the remaining plies orlaminae, as at 32, the uppermost ply or lamina 18 and 20 providing afence or retaining member for keeping the furniture leg positionedwithinthe aperture 28 on the supporting surface 32.

A disc of cushioning material 33, such as a rubber disc having a contoursimilar to that of the contour and size of the aperture at 28 is securedto the top surface of the lamina 22 within the aperture 28. A secondcushioning disc of similar material, such as at 34 having a contour andshape similar to the contour and shape of the lowermost ply or lamina 26is secured to the bottom surface of the bottom lamina 26. This lowerdisc 34 is oneeighth inch in thickness, which is twice that of the upperdisc 33, the upper disc 33 being one-sixteenth inch in thickness.

The presence of these cushioning discs 33 and 34, in the proportions setforth, has been found to be extremely beneficial when used withvibrating furniture or appliances, particularly when placed on hard orcement floors.

The supporting plies or laminae 22, 24 and 26 may have a center hole 36extending thereto, as illustrated, for manufacture purposes. However,such central aperture 36 also serves to cooperate with a small plug or aknob found on the bottom of many furniture legs to help center the legin the support of this invention.

The leg support of this invention serves to protect the floors and floorcovering from being scuifed by the leg of the furniture or appliance anddue to its construction is of substantial strength as well as apermanent and lasting beauty, the color of the edge resulting from thedifferent plies or lamina being inherent in the material will remainpermanently and not fade away as does ordinary colors.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, suchdescription is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting,since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of theinvention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim:

1. A furniture leg support comprising a laminated body of generallyregular contour, the laminae of said body extending in horizontalplanes, the edge of each lamina having a different color than that ofeach adjacent lamina, a plurality of said laminae being centrallyapertured to re ceive a furniture leg therein and provide a fencetherefor, the remaining laminae providing a. support for the furnitureleg received through the apertured laminae, a disc of cushioningmaterial secured to the bottom surface of the lowermost lamina, and adisc of similar cushioning material, but of substantially half thethickness, secured to the exposed surface of the lamina within thefence.

2. A furniture leg support comprising a hardwood plywood body ofgenerally regular contour, the plies of said body extending inhorizontal planes, the grain of each ply contrasting in appearance withthe grain of each adjacent ply, at least a pair of said plies beingcentrally apertured to receive and confine a furniture leg extendingthere- 4 through into supporting contact on the next adjacent ply, adisc of cushioning material secured to the bottom surface of thelowermost ply, and a disc of similar cushioning material, but ofsubstantially half the thickness, secured to the exposed surface of theply within the fence.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.18,647 Phillips Nov. 8, 1932 1,345,987 Bocking July 6, 1920 1,798,272Phillips Mar. 31, 1931 2,366,867 Nichthauser J an. 9, 1945 2,503,022Benoist et a1 Apr. 4, 1950 2,787,085 Auer Apr. 2, 1957 2,893,164 MartinJuly 7, 1959

1. A FURNITURE LEG SUPPORT COMPRISING A LAMINATED BODY OF GENERALLYREGULAR CONTOUR, THE LAMINAE OF SAID BODY EXTENDING IN HORIZONTALPLANES, THE EDGE OF EACH LAMINA HAVING A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN THAT OFEACH ADJACENT LAMINA, A PLURALITY OF SAID LAMINAE BEING CENTRALLYAPERTURED TO RECEIVE A FURNITURE LEG THEREIN AND PROVIDE A FENCETHEREFOR, THE REMAINING LAMINAE PROVIDING A SUPPORT FOR THE FURNITURELEG RECEIVED THROUGH THE APERTURED LAMINAE, A DISC OF CUSHIONINGMATERIAL SECURED TO THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF THE LOWERMOST LAMINA, AND ADISC OF SIMILAR CUSHIONING MATERIAL, BUT OF SUBSTANTIALLY HALF THETHICKNESS, SECURED TO THE EXPOSED SURFACE OF THE LAMINA WITHIN THEFENCE.